Cisneros believes his nightmare goes back to his year-plus spent painting the Hotel Stockton.

The hotel, which closed in 1960, housed government offices until 1991. Save for a couple of small tenants, it then stood vacant for a decade.

During its vacancy, pigeon guano, leaking pipes and moisture from other sources activated mold - piles so big they bowed the floors, Cisneros says.

Records from the 1990s show a remaining tenant, radio station KJOY, fought a legal battle with the county government over the mold.

Ex-KJOY DJ Candace Hosey, 47, reached in Modesto, said a fungal infection hospitalized her in the late '90s. She had to take a six-month medical leave. She is still infected.

"I take a variety of medications and four different inhalers just so I'm not totally down," Hosey said. "It's pretty brutal."

Late '90s inspection records also document dangerous levels of asbestos.

Nothing was done until the county deeded the hotel to the city of Stockton and remodeling began.

Youssefi says a hazardous-materials team cleaned out all asbestos - and pigeon guano covering the floors an inch deep - in late 2002 before workers arrived.

The Environmental Protection Agency signed off on the building. Otherwise, the city of Stockton would not have issued the demolition permit, Youssefi said.

"Did I check every inch of the building and could I swear to you unequivocally there was never a mold spot? I cannot do that," Youssefi said. "But, first-class consultant, EPA tests galore, clean air, those are all documented. Those are irrefutable."

Nevertheless, records show that in spring of 2003, a local union boss spotted friable asbestos on the hotel's roof. State safety authorities ordered Youssefi to take further precautions.

That was a half-year into the project. Cisneros claims the same laxity applied to mold.

Youssefi counters that project bosses held weekly safety meetings. If mold was a problem, they took measures.

Cisneros says the only measures taken were paper masks. Workers constantly labored in clouds of demolition dust, he says.

A few months into the job, Cisneros says he began experiencing headaches and fatigue. His symptoms persist.

He's not the only one. "I have a lot of shortness of breath," complained Malcolm Volsan, 37, a Stockton plumber. "I get headaches."

Volsan also complained of "periodic nausea. I feel light-headed, like I'm getting ready to faint. Usually I just I don't have the energy level that I had before."

Youssefi points out Cisneros filed four workers compensation claims during his time on the job. His suit, the fifth action, could make for skepticism about his motives.

"My injuries were injuries," Cisneros responds.

Cisneros did not name the city of Stockton in his lawsuit because he was not correctly diagnosed until mid-2007. By then, the deadline for suing a public entity had passed.

He says he wants others to seek medical attention before their infections pass the point of no return.

His is right on the edge. "I try not to think about it," he said. "I just hope I'll get better."

Youssefi also pointed out that no tenant of the hotel has complained of mold, though the building has been occupied for 31/2 years.